Monday, March 21, 2016

Where are they now? The GeoOrbital (Powered Bike) Wheel

Back in November of 2014, two new powered-wheel protoypes appeared on these pages. One was the Daymak DDS, the other was the GeoOrbital Wheel. Both were pretty cool.

The prototype was much chunkier, but it had primary colors!

Occasionally, I like to go back to see how things are going on these projects, so today I popped back over to GeoOrbital's site to see how things are looking. In this case, things are looking good!

It takes 2 minutes to install on yer big honking scooter (or bicycle)

You know I love a good wheel pun! And I love to see a plan come together!

I am glad to see that GeoOrbital added a bigger motor (500 watts! Big enough for bigger people like me!) I am curious to see how far they have veered from their original goal of keeping it under $500. To be honest, I expect that number to double, but they may surprise me. I would also love to know how it rides on non-inflatable tires.

It is a cool approach to the powered wheel, and I like the fact that that it does not hide what it is. People are going to know that your wheel is something different. There's no mistaking the fact that this thing is powered. My armchair verdict? I want one! A 20mph and a 20-50 mile range with a 2 minute install time - that sounds great to me. What's not to like?